


Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2018

by Mafief



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes (Downey films), Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone films), Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle, The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Community: watsons_woes, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-05-31 22:22:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15129023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mafief/pseuds/Mafief
Summary: Ficlets for 2018 Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts. Most chapters will likely be unrelated. Ratings for each chapter will be in the notes.





	1. Resident Horse

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter - Title - Prompt  
> 1 - Resident Horse - One Thousand and One Nights: Have one character tell a story to another (BBC_Sherlock)  
> 2 - Teacups and Teapots - picture prompt of teasets (Great Mouse Detective)  
> 3 - The Cat and String - When Shall We Three Meet Again? Have three characters - and ONLY three - appear in your work today. (RDJ movies)  
> 4 - Bound - Contronymns (BBC_Sherlock)  
> 5 - It's Poison - A Deadly Simple. It's poison. (BBC_Sherlock)  
> 6 - What Happened? - Double Take. Watson keeps getting odd looks from people and can't figure out why. Tell or show us why. (Rathbone Films)  
> 7 - They Will Outlive Us All - And Now The Weather. Involve the climate in some way. (ACD) Summary: Holmes and Watson reminisce at the end of the earth.  
> 8 - Coffee - Going Grey. A character attempts to hide signs of aging in some way, for some reason. (BBC_Sherlock) Summary: John not interested in free senior coffee, thank you very much.  
> 9 - Reputation - Your Reputation Precedes You. The disadvantage in having a reputation is that people know who you are. Let that work to a character’s disadvantage in today’s entry. (ACD) Summary: Lestrade and Watson are on a stake out.  
> 10 - Dinosaur - Dinosaurs. Involve at least one somewhere – anything from a Victorian museum exhibit to an actual velociraptor.  
> 11 - Surprise - Take a Break. Watson takes a vacation away from Baker Street. How does that work out?. (RDJ movies) Summary: Watson is on his honeymoon with Mary.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosie tells John a story. (BBC Sherlock)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G  
> Prompt: One Thousand and One Nights: Have one character tell a story to another.

John walks through the door of 221B after his early morning shift. Rosie is laying on her stomach surrounded by three-inch model horse. 

“Daddy!” She jumps up and flings her arms around John’s neck. 

“Hey sweetie. And what have you been doing?”

“Solving cases with Sherlock.” She lets him go and she holds up a horse that was modelled with an impressive mane and painted black with white socks. “This is the detective.”

John picks up a stocky brown horse. “And this one?”

“That’s the detective’s helper.”

“And he’s very good looking.” John surveys the room to find a horse strung up under a chair with a perfectly tied miniature noose. Another horse is wearing a light blue piece of felt. 

“And this?” He says, not even batting an eye. 

“That one was murdered,” says Rosie. “He lived in a flat above a doctor. The doctor was worried and saw the detective.”

“Why?”

“He acted funny after a stranger visited and then he was killed.”

“By hanging?”

“No,” she huffs in a perfect facsimile of Sherlock. “Dad, you see but you do not observe.”

John hears muffled sniggering coming from the kitchen area. He looks up to see Sherlock leaning against the wall trying his best to look innocent. 

“Let me guess, I missed everything of importance?” John asks Sherlock.

“Basically.”


	2. Teacups and Teapots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basil is on the case of a missing girl in blue. (The Great Mouse Detective [1986])

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossed over with an unlabelled fandom.  
> Rating: G

“Based on my calculations, Dawson, the girl should come this way.”

Basil and Dawson carefully peaked around the assortment of teacups and teapots. The teasets were of unusual shapes and sizes; some were smaller than them and others towered high above. Yet, there was no sight of the girl.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps and Basil pushed Dawson against a bumpy teapot. 

“Shhh!” Basil warned. 

“My friends, shall we start the celebration?” said a voice with a lisp. 

“Why certainly. Tea?” Said another voice. 

“What are we celebrating?” Hiccupped another voice. 

“It’s my unbirthday today!” the first two to voices said in unison. 

The teapots and teacups burst into life. 

“Run!” yelled Basil and he dragged Dawson around the steaming and bouncing teapots. In the confusion, Dawson’s tail was pinned under a teapot.

“Dawson!” Basil carefully freed Dawson’s tail and quickly made for an unused teacup. They both flipped it over and hid under it. 

Dawson nursed the hurt on his tail while Basil spied on the merrymaking. 

“Is that clapping, Basil?”

“She’s here. Up, quickly.” But their world was shut into darkness as something heavy prevented them from lifting the teacup. 

They could not make out the muffled conversation. When at last they could get out, the girl was gone. 

Basil whispered, “Let’s go before we are caught under a bowl.”


	3. The Cat and String

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holmes flirts with a guy at a bar and Watson is having none of it. (RDJ movies)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for prompt: When Shall We Three Meet Again? Have three characters - and ONLY three - appear in your work today.
> 
> This is really just an excuse to write jealous!Watson.  
> Rating: Teen  
> Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

Why is he here? That’s right; John Watson, the ever-faithful companion, was to watch his reckless boyfriend’s back while he flirts with the boy – no _Grecian god_ \- at the bar. He had said no and he was going to stay home, but they both knew he would come. Damn this man.

They had been searching for stolen costumes from a renowned ballet school. Holmes had finally tracked a lead to this bar. 

The boy’s laughter catches Watson’s ear, and he chances a look in their direction. The boy flirts and moves further into Holmes’ personal space. While the boy takes a drink, Holmes glances his way and gives him a quick smirk before returning his attention to his query. 

Yes, John Watson will grind his molars to a pulp and think of ways to torture one very in trouble Sherlock Holmes. 

——

In the empty alley, the darkness hides them as Watson pins Holmes against a filthy brick wall and firmly presses their lips together. 

“You’re jealous,” breathes Holmes when Watson nips at the skin on Holmes’ jaw. 

Watson presses his thigh between Holmes’ legs and they both groan. “Brilliant deduction. Care to make another?” 

“You have been thinking of your revenge.”

Watson steps back and removes all contact. “Yes.”

Holmes stumbles forward unmoored. “Not here?” 

“No, old cock. _Our_ bed.”


	4. Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock in Serbia. (BBC Sherlock)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contradict Yourself. Contronymns are words that are their own antonyms. Choose one from the list (https://www.dailywritingtips.com/75-contronyms-words-with-contradictory-meanings/) and use both its meanings in your work.
> 
> Another fandom easter egg included.  
> Rating: M for slight torture.

Bound.

Or at least that is what he was when he was last conscious. Sherlock blinks open his eyes. Still nothing to see because of the hood over his face. He’s sitting in an uncomfortable chair and his arms are behind the chair back. The chair is sturdy and metal, making his chance of breaking it slim. The zip tie around his wrists and ankles have rubbed the area raw. 

_How long was i out?_ He thinks and tries to move his head. _God, everything hurts._

From the dampness and chill, Sherlock knows he is still in the underground cell. 

_I wonder what day it is?_

The only additions to his world is the opening and closing of a squeaky door (likely metal and heavily guarded).

“Who are you? Where is the information?“ asks the same man with the gentle voice over and over. Sherlock has never seen him. Although, from the hours he’s spent questioning, Sherlock knows his left hand has an unusual number (probably six), is right handed, and walks with no force in his gate. He gives the false appearance of weakness. 

He asks Sherlock to record his pain, for posterity. 

Sherlock remains silent. 

The pain increases. 

\---

When this is over, he will see John. 

_John. ___

__Finish the task, keep John safe, and then he is homeward bound._ _


	5. It's Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Sherlock meet Greg at a pub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for prompt: A Deadly Simple. It's poison. (BBC_Sherlock)  
> Rating: G

John pulls his coat tighter as they trudge their way through the rain to the pub. “You only need to stay until Greg gives you the killer’s information.”

“You could have gotten it for me.”

“Nope,” says John as he opened the door to the pub. Sherlock begrudgingly follows John and he is hit by a wall of noise and an overwhelming smell of humans and stale beer. John rocks up on his tip toes looking around for Greg and spots him. Greg waves and they navigate through the crowd to him. From the look of it, Greg is already well into his second pint and has two others next to him. 

“Oh my god, look what the cat dragged in.” Greg almost sings his greeting. 

John smiles and immediately replies, “Livin' my life, sin after sin.” 

Sherlocks, still standing, looks confused. 

Greg takes another sip. “How do you not know that song?”

“It’s Poison. Poison,” John says slowly. 

“Yes, that is a fitting description.”

They both laugh. “No, Sherlock,” says John. “It’s a band. I’ll have you listen later in the flat.” 

\----

As the song ends, John tries not to smirk. “Well?”

“Mindless noise.”

“Hey, I like it.”

Sherlock scoffs. “They could have named their band after a poison like amatoxin.”

“No, that’s a terrible name for a band.”


	6. What Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watson is confused why people are laughing at him. (Rathbone Films)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for prompt: Double Take. Watson keeps getting odd looks from people and can't figure out why. Tell or show us why.  
> Rating: G

Another round of giggles erupted when I walked past a group of students and my trip from the library had left me flustered. Why were they laughing? I did not receive this ill treatment when I walked to the library. I found the book, and then sat in the only available chair. What had happened?

Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, I entered the room where Holmes was studying obscure texts and shut the door a little too forcefully behind me. 

“Shh,” said Holmes not looking up from his text. “Did you get the book?”

I silently placed the book in front of him now upset that I had distracted him. As I paced back and forth in the office I tried to use Holmes deductive method. Something must have happened to me in the library, but what?

“Something bothering you, old boy?” said Holme. 

“Yes.” I smacked my hand on a shelf and dislodged a newspaper. “Holmes, I don’t understand why people are laughing at me.” I said as I turned around to pick up the newspaper. 

“Oh, my dear Watson, your backside is covered in chalk.”

“My backside! Well that explains it. But how did that happen?”

“Simple. Did you sit down?”

“I did.”

“Then you have fallen prey to a good ol’ fun of chalk-on-the-chair prank.”

“Thus, covering my backside. Brilliant…”


	7. They Will Outlive Us All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holmes and Watson reminisce at the end of the earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for prompt: And Now The Weather. Involve the climate in some way.  
> Rating: G

Two men wearing Victorian period clothing stood in front of a window and looked at the earth. The Earth was now a globe of grey and tan; the blue and green globe was a distant memory.

“The expanding sun has made earth too hot now,” said the man with a moustache. “It’s a desert, not unlike my time in Afghanistan.”

“But much hotter, Watson.” 

“Yes, true. Holmes, what time was your favorite?”

“That’s an impossible question to answer.”

“I know, but… but what parts do you remember?”

Holmes turned his gaze to Watson. “I remember the terrible fog in London.”

“Ah yes. That was nothing compared to what they did to the planet before the Collective Clean Planet Act.”

“History!” Holmes laughed. “Reading archeologists take on the late 1900’s and their debates about the repeating trends throughout history was amusing.”

“I will never understand why beanie babies were considered a good investment.”

“Curing diseases only to be faced with newer and deadlier plagues.” 

“Volcanos erupting,” said Watson quietly. “It was freezing afterwards, but the sunsets were spectacular.”

Holmes hummed.

“Holmes, my favorite time was when we first met.”

“Mine too.”

“Where will we go now?”

“To space, to wherever they need hope in an everlasting friendship and reasoning their way through problems.” Holmes took Watson’s hand. “To the future and beyond.”


	8. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John not interested in free senior coffee, thank you very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G  
> Writing for prompt: JWP #10 Going Grey. A character attempts to hide signs of aging in some way, for some reason. Who, how, and why – that’s up to you!

John blinked.

The barista - who was all of twelve - tried again. “Are you over 55?”

“Uhh, No.” John lied. 

“Today is Tuesday and,” she pointed to the sign above, “seniors get free coffee.”

“Not a senior,” he said.

 _And I’m not going to admit I’m one_ , he did not say.

She accepted his payment and left to make his coffee. He was conflicted about this new perk of being older. The discount on the coffee was nice, even if he was not going to use it, but he was happy to know he could. He was not fond of the Lo Salt he ate to help control his high blood pressure or the slower metabolism. 

Coffee in hand, he went back to sit by Sherlock who was busy scrolling through his phone. 

Sherlock briefly looked up and scowled. “Drink up. We need to be in Wandsworth.”

John drank quickly and followed Sherlock out the door. 

The next day, Sherlock took John to another coffee shop. It also had a senior discount. Again, he could have ordered the senior coffee, but declined.

Sherlock again looked up and scowled. “Just order it.”

“What?”

“The free coffee, you are old enough.”

“By five days!”

Sherlock hummed, already distracted by something on his phone. “Drink up. There’s been a murder by Albert Bridge.”


	9. Reputation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lestrade and Watson are helping on a stake out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G  
> Prompt: Your Reputation Precedes You. The disadvantage in having a reputation is that people know who you are. Let that work to a character’s disadvantage in today’s entry.

The maître D scanned the list for a reservation under the name ‘Adwell’ that Watson and Lestrade provided. A woman wearing a black and white stripped evening gown with a high collar walked past them and into the great dining room. The white lace on her shoulders moved in time with her swaying steps. 

Lestrade leaned close to Watson and whispered, “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“And you wouldn’t unless Holmes thought it was absolutely necessary to gather the confession in front of a police witness.”

“The dress, the wig…” They watched Holmes saunter through the crowd towards his target in the centre booth of the grand dining hall. “He even has the walk.”

In their booth, they ordered claret and settled in. The target was a well-known government official connected to briberies. Throughout the night, people would stop and briefly talk, making Holmes’ task even more difficult. 

From across the dining hall, a man shouted “Katarina!” He dashed past the waiters who could not capture him. He stopped by the booth occupied by Holmes and the official. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

Watson and Lestrade immediately went on alert. “He’s used this disguise before?” said Lestrade. 

“Maybe? He does have a reputation,” murmured Watson. “The signal! Quick, before Holmes is hurt by the blackguard.”


	10. Dinosaur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff because Sherlock’s curiosity gets themselves transported to somewhere else. (BBC Sherlock, Doctor Who)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: G  
> Prompt: Dinosaurs. Involve at least one somewhere – anything from a Victorian museum exhibit to an actual velociraptor.
> 
> A.N.: The dinosaur in “Dinosaurs in a Spaceship” made me do it.

“Just had to play with that bracelet.” John’s angry whisper echoes in the corridor. “Where the hell are we?”

Sherlock raises his hands to his temples and shuts his eyes. “Thinking.”

John snorts. He turns from his infuriating flat mate and looks at the grey wall paneling. Ahead, he sees a porthole and looks out. 

“Uh, Sherlock.”

“Not now.”

John finds a little panel with sharp squiggles. His eyes go wide. “Sherlock now. Right now.”

Sherlock ignores him. “Recycled air.” He jumps. “Altered gravity.”

“Sherlock!”

“Yes, John, what is it?”

John points to the porthole and they look at the red planet below.

“Not earth then.” Sherlock pivots and they march down the corridor. At an intersection, John peers around the corner. 

“Hello there!” calls a man.

John cannot believe his eyes - a man in a tweed coat and bowtie is riding a triceratops. 

“Are you from here or did I bring you? No, it’s the bracelet.” The man dismounts the triceratops.

John blinks. “Is that?” 

“A dinosaur, yes. So, not from here and likely average humans.”

“Where are we?” interrupts Sherlock coldly.

“That isn’t only part of the question you should be asking.”

“The other?” 

“When.” The man remounts the triceratops. “If you aren’t interested in dying, let’s get the other dinosaurs and ourselves off before the spaceship blows.”


	11. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watson is on his honeymoon with Mary. (RDJ movies)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: Teen  
> Prompt: Take a Break. Watson takes a vacation away from Baker Street. How does that work out?.

Giggles echoed down the hotel’s hallway. Watson’s head was tucked into the crook of Mary’s neck. 

“John, the key.”

“Then I have to leave your gorgeous neck. I am unwilling to make that sacrifice.”

Mary giggled again. “And I don’t want to stop you, but… inside?”

After a few kisses, Watson pulls back and unlocks the door. He holds Mary’s hand as he leads her into their room. 

“You look gorgeous tonight, darling.” Watson said breathlessly as they embraced again. 

“Thank you. The dinner was perfect, John. The music, the champagne, it was all perfect.”

They heard a loud knock on the door. Mary whispered teasingly into Watson’s ear, “Whoever that is can wait.”

The knock repeated and a high voice said, “service d'étage.”

Watson yielded and opened the door to see Holmes. “What the -“

“I was north, in Montpelier, studying coal-tar derivatives” said Holmes stepping through the door.

“Coal-tar derivatives? We have only been gone three days!”

There was another knock.

“We are not finished Holmes.” Watson brushed past Holmes and opened the door. “Yes?”

“Bonjour,” said the French concierge man. “We regret to inform you that your reservation has been cancelled and you should have vacated this afternoon.”

Watson turned and glared at Holmes. “Cancelled?”

“Watson, most unfortunate. I have a room I can share above my bodega.”


End file.
